Time To Pretend
by anewsongbird
Summary: Wonder if life just gets turned around? You're separated from your only sibling? Tessa is now stuck at a boarding school where no only does she feels left out but everyone doesn't notice her. But her life starts to spin when the truth behind the school and Tessa's life comes out. Will she handle it?
1. The New Beginning

Tessa stared at herself in the full length body mirror they have recently moved to her room. "I feel like on of those terrible boarding school movies…"She muttered to herself. Tessa was around 5'8 which in her case was tall for most girls her age. Tessa felt that she is considered an odd girl, with her height ad her looks she felt different. Her hair was in loose dark brown curls which many girls are usually envious over, her eyes were cat like and the color of the gray rainy sky, her nose and cheeks are splattered with faint freckles. She was dressed in a awkwardly short plaid uniform skirt, a white v-neck and a plaid uniform vest to match her skirt, she slid on some brown boots to match and sighed softly. "I can do this, I can survive another school, with new people, new faces…new…everything." She looked around her single bed room. Her parent requested that she would get single room instead of a roommate for privacy issues, the same with her brother Nate at the all boys academy. She never understood the point of her going to a Co-ed boarding school and he ends up at a All boys, but with the records Nathaniel had, she probably would have done the same.

_She remembered when her parents pulled up with her at the school, the place was a guarded by iron gates, when her parents helped her unpack along with the other attendants in the dorm building, they reported to the main entrance hall where they met with the Headmaster, Dean Starkweather, who was an old rough looking man, he ushered them in the office which was a darkish colored room, they sat infront of his desk as he took a seat and started chatting away while Tessa looked outside, he had a perfect view of the quads, she watched all the kids walk around in uniforms, some sat in the grass reading their books, others kicked around a soccer ball. She then saw a group of kids walking through the quads, one was a black haired boy, his hair was slightly curly and he had sunglasses on with the boy's uniform on, he was beside a boy with bright silver hair which was odd for a kid, his was tall and lanky like the boy wearing a uniform. Beside the two guys was a girl wih dark blonde curls that formed perfectly around her round face, she looked sort of like a model. _

"_Theresa…" She heard her mother's voice fade in and she snapped back into reality making a "hmm". _

"_Miss Gray, what I want you to endure in this experience here is Education, Friendships and Scholarships to higher colleges, which with your intelligence would be easy." Mr. Starkweather smiled. "We have a few rules that we should go over, _

_No Boys in your Rooms, not even for the weekends when they're allowed in the lodge areas._

_No fighting, no matter what. _

_You cannot leave campus without parent consent, only your parents or the contacts could check you out, but only for the weekend._

_Do not go into the woods past curfew, we want all our students to be safe._

_No Illegal Substances._

_But that is all for now, you will get a list of more rules, but those are the most important ones."_

_Tessa smiled and nodded and walked out of the office followed by her parents. They looked at her and smiled softly, they gave her a final hug before leaving._

"_Be good dear, have fun, make friends, call us daily, I love you." Her mother hugged her tightly, she was kissed on the forehead by her father and they walked to the car and she watched the Iron gates closed as they drove away._

Tessa sighed softly and looked around the empty room; it was so plain the only since she hasn't had time to unpack. She ran her fingers through her hair and grabbed the stack of papers that included a map, her classes and syllabuses. She looked around her room and noticed on her vanity was her clockwork angel necklace; she grabbed it, clipped it on then grabbed her bag and left.

Tessa walked across the campus, her first class would be Art, today was her off day to make sure she knew where her classes were and everything. She readjusted her bag and followed the sidewalk to a large gothic looking building, she walked into the building, it was quiet except a few murmurs of the students in the halls. It was a Sunday so no one had classes today, but kids seemed to still show up. She walked until she saw the numbers 325 written across the door, she opened the room to see a huge art studio, the smell of paint filled her senses, she saw the rows of desks and behind them were canvases, some blank, others were colorful, there were statues, drawings, and many more common art studio projects. She smiled and memorized it.

She headed out of the hall her next class was Literature Studies, which would be her favorite, climbing up the stairs a after the 3rd flight she was on the English hall which she realized that all the Senior Classes were held in the same building. She walked around the hall seeing a few doors opened, she passed by the one she needed seeing a young looking teacher in there, he was in his mid twenties, which a slight beard growing. She knocked on the door and he looked up, his bright blue eyes were behind some glasses before he took them off. "May I help you mam?" He asked in a helpful tone.

"Yes, I'm Theresa Gray, the new transfer student, is this Literature studies?" She smiled shyly as the man stood up and looked around.

"Well yes it is, I'm Mr. Raphael." He smiled and walked to her holding out his hand. Tessa shook it gently and looked around at the various posters of Mark Twain, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald and Hawthorne and her favorite, Charles Dickens. Her eyes were wide with awe as she stared. "I'm guessing you love reading, that how most people react when they look at these posters, other's just see old men losing their minds." Mr. Raphael slowly made his way back to his desk. "If you love books, you should check out the studies building, we have the best library in the boarding school system, it's quite magnificent." He smiled and looked at her. Tessa smiled and nodded.

"It was nice to meet you." She made her way out of the hall and went down the stairs, she sighed softly. This school seemed too big, too gothic and also weird for her. She made her way out the building and the sunlight hit her eyes making her squint. She looked around the squad and spotted a few trees but they seem to be occupied by some lip locking couples, until she spotted a giant oak tree by itself, no one around and it was kind of far off from everything, which she wanted. She made her way to the tree avoiding everyone who might even take slight notice she was a new girl. She made her way to the tree and sighed softly in relief, she started to dig in her bag for her headphones and Ipod. She also found her sunglasses and she slipped them on, putting in her headphones. She leaned against the tree, the grass under it was soft and plush, she tree made her feel hidden, which she wanted.

"_Nathaniel, you cannot hit people because you want to." The mother scolded angrily. Tessa saw Nate sitting at the table in the kitchen, he help a hold towel to his bloody lip. _

"_Well, too bad." He snarled throwing the towel down._

"_Put that back on so the swelling will go down, why would you even want to hit that Colansanti kid, I thought you two were friends." His mother sat beside him._

"_We were never friends, he was an arrogant jerk."_

"_Honey y-"_

"_NO, MOM HE WAS TALKING ABOUT TESSA!" Nate stood up and walked out of the kitchen. The mother sighed softly and put her hands on each side of her face. Tessa heard a slight sniffle and then she stood up. _

"_I'm Sorry Mom." Tessa walked in the kitchen, "I screw everything up, I wish I was never born, no one wants me here anymore."_

Tessa suddenly felt a slight shaking dragging her out of her dreaming. She jerked seeing a kid in front of her stare. "You okay?" He was a tall lanky kid, he had sandy blonde hair and green big eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I just dozed off, sorry." Tessa stood up quickly ignoring the kid offering his hand. "I have to go." She decided sighed and looked at the time, it was already dinner time. She looked at the map and made her way across the campus at where other students were heading to, he dinning hall looked like a regular food hall, various lines of different types of foods. She looked around and grabbed a bowl of fruit salad and some water before heading back to her dorm, she went to the lobby sitting in a nice plush chair, and she looked around and saw a few girls eating their lunches too. She sighed and stabbed at the fruit, times like this made her think of Nate and how lonely she really is without him. She finished off her plate and headed threw it away heading to her room. She opened it to see it's the same plain room that she left earlier that day. It will never be the same room either no matter what she tries. She looked through the boxes for her shower supplies and towels. She grabbed a pair of old sweatpants, sports bra, underwear and t-shirt then made her way to the showers. She didn't like the way the showers were set up, they were in time rows and she was tall for them, but she was obviously alone so she started humming softly. After 30 minutes she turned off the shower only to hear another one going. Then she heard giggling, a whisper, with another low whisper. Her eyes grew wide and she grabbed her towel quickly. It was Tessa's first day and she's already had to encounter with stuff like this.

"Will, you have to stop or else we will get busted." She heard a girls voice whispered. _Too late._

"I highly doubt anyone cares except for charlotte, but she's focused on Henry and I'm focused on you." The male voice whispered softly. Then she heard another giggle. Tessa quickly and quietly tried to grab her stuff before she heard the door open again. _Oh my gosh, I cannot be seen here, if this is some creepy sex club thing, I'm leaving._

"WILLIAM HERONDALE AND LEANNE GRAYMARK GET OUT NOW!" She heard a harsh voice echo through the shower stalls. "DO NOT MAKE ME DRAG YOU BOTH OUT!" The woman screamed, Tessa blinked and stood there in shock.

The two teenagers appeared out of the shower stall, one was a short blonde headed girl, her eyes were bright blue and her hair was in a bun. She was not exactly the prettiest thing eiher. Then she looked at the boy, it was thr same one she saw in the dean's office walking across he quad, he was tall, his dark ink black hair was now wet and curling around his face. His eyes were dark blue, sort of like and endless ocean, he had a towel wrapped around his waist and he had arrogant smirk on his face like most of the guys at her old school.

"Why do you degrade girls, especially here." Mrs. Branwell rubbed her temples.

"Because….they let me." Will smiled heading back into the stall. "I mean charlotte, we're supposed to be teenagers, we have our needs."

"But this is like a monthly thing, or bi weekly, I can't even keep up now."

"You know there is another girl in here, she was in the shower when I snuck in."

"By the Angel, I'm sorry; you can come out of hiding." Charlotte looked around and Tessa stood up from hiding, her hair was still wet and she clutches the towel around her body. "I'm so sorry about him, Will we will finish this later." She glared as he put the rest of his clothes on and made his way out, he turned to Tessa and stopped before leaving again.


	2. Blue Eyed Danger

The alarm seemed to scream inside William Herondale's ear, he groaned before reaching for the alarm clock only to figure out it wasn't there. He put the pillow over his head and it was jerked away from him. "Will, it's time to get up, 15 more minutes and you will be late for class." He heard Jem's voice and his feet pacing around. "Also, they want all of us to be in breakfast, especially after the stunt you pulled last night." Jem scoff. Will sat up and smiled brightly at him before getting out of his bed, he ran his fingers through his jet black hair and ran into the bathroom completing his morning routine which included bathroom, brushing, flossing, and fixing his hair.

"Oh Jem, they are will not even report it to the Dean, don't worry about it, sheesh." Will left the bathroom and changed into his uniform and took a seat grabbing his notebooks and flipping through them.

"You know the rules though, especially with Graymark, everyone knows how she is, at least have some class about who you sneak off with, your bad boy appearance reflects on me too." Jem raises his brow and fixes his tie.

"Pish Posh." Will rolled his eyes rocking his chair back and forth. "She was flirting with me all day, might as well check out the goods with a nice and steamy shower." Jem gave him a cold look before rolling his eyes and sitting across from him.

"How do you think Jessamine is going to react? Especially today, her little ceremony thing is tonight and she has been on the edge." Jem looked at the little boxes that were handed to them this morning, in them were black cloaks. "And if she finds out that you were messing around with one of the sluttiest girls here, how do you think she would feel?"

"You know Jessie; she'll take it out on the girl." Will twirled his pen before around idly and then looks at Jem. "I mean she knows she can't do anything that might strain this 'relationship' that we are supposed to have, it makes her imperfect and the last thing she wants to be is imperfect." Will stood up along with Jem grabbing his bag. "It will be alright." Will smiled and wrapped his arm around Jem's shoulders in a brotherly way.

They exited out of their dormitory and the sun was slowly rising behind the forest that surrounds Idris. Jem was looking through some music pages putting them in order while Will was looking off in a distance. Every girl that walked by smirked at him but of course he wasn't as interested in them. Will only fools around because of the boredom; he finds everything to be a boring waste of time and tends to wonder why he was here. They made it to the food hall and the smell of cinnamon, bacon and various other breakfast foods his senses. He looked around the dining hall which seems to be somewhat empty. He saw Jessamine sitting with the usual group of girls, they were like little puppies. Jessamine was his "Girlfriend", they never made anything official, everyone else just made the decision for them and Jessamine went along with it

What really bothered Will the most is how the only time she showed affection was in public, but anywhere else would be them snarling at each other. He looked at Jessamine, she had the long thick curly blonde hair that any girl would die for, her eyes are doll like with a hazel tint, her skin is porcelain, Jessamine was the exactly replica of a porcelain doll that sits in every little girls rooms. But just like those dolls, Jessamine was hollow inside.

"Have you notice that girl before?" Jem's voice snapped Will into reality again. "The brown haired one, she's by herself in the corner with a book, have you seen her before?" Will instantly thought of the same girl holding her towel tightly against her from the night before, she was startled but what he remembered the most about that girl was her eyes, they seems like a stormy sky, beautiful and dangerous at the same time.

"Never seen her in my life, why?" Will's tone had any sort of interest in it what so ever. He tries to keep it that way too when it comes to Jem, all the girls usually flock onto will leaving Jem to the side by himself.

"She looks….lonely." Jem studied her for a little bit. Jem was always a sucker when it comes to loneliness, but that's the reason they were friends to began with. Jem was an oddball when they first met as 6th graders going to a private school, he was always left out of games because he had a rare case of asthma, he had to take certain medicine to help it which started affecting his appearance. Jem looks like a china doll, fragile and thin, he's a little bit shorter than Jem, but his features are sharp, but the things that stands out the most about him is his shocking silver hair and silver eyes caused by his medicine, everyone in the school is used to it but whenever there is a new student they stop and stare in amazement.

"Well, get her…unlonely?" Will thought about what he said before he realized that word doesn't even exist before shrugging his shoulders and making his way to the booth not far from her.

"I think I will." Jem turned his heel and started walking towards her table before he realized that she was gathering up her and stuff and leaving. He then again tried to play it off by making a detour back to the booth where Will was sitting. "Well, that didn't go as I expected, she just ran out."

After breakfast, Jem and Will made their way to the Arts and English building for their classes; it was the usual conversation while walking. Then Jem looked at him, "What do you think will happen tonight? I mean wearing all black, meeting in the woods at the spot…..you think we're ready?" Jem looked a head, his eyes were big and round as if something was scaring him.

"Of course we are ready, we've been training for this the past 2 years, and we started in middle school." Will fidget with his shoulder bag," I think Jessamine is just taking it too serious and making a big deal of it." They finally reached the building, the halls were full of gossiping students, some stared at them, other students scurried away in a rush. They finally made it into the art room where it was filling up and Will stopped at the doorway. In the seat in front of him sat the girl he was thinking about all day. She was looking down at a book and she chewed gently on the tip of her pen.

"Hello William." He heard a smooth but high pitch voice behind him. "Why is that girl in our spot, especially my seat." Turned to see Jessamine standing beside him, her eyes glared at Tessa.

"She's a new girl, we can find new seats." Will rolled his eyes and looked around the room, Jessamine's cohorts were of course behind Tessa looking at her with disgusted looks before returning to their phones.

"I don't want new seats, I've gotten use to the ones we have right now, I'm going to tell this bitch to move out of the way." Before Will could say anything Jessamine made her way up to the desk, and throughout the quiet room he heard Jessamine speak very loudly, "I'm sorry, but you are in my spot."

Tessa looked her eyes were a lot grayer than last night, she was in her plaid skirt, a black v-neck and the plain vest and she found a plain tie to match with her silver necklace of a angel.

"I'm sorry; the teacher said I could sit anywhere." Tessa spoken very softly and looked around, "There are other seats that you can sit in too." Then she looked back down and then all the chatter in the room stopped and all eyes were on the two girls. Will wanted to stop before it got any worse, anything that made anyone question Jessamine's authority she would quickly smack them down.

"I'm sorry, but I've been sitting here all year and now some random new nobody is just sitting in my spot and you expect me to just let you get away with it, I don't know where or who the hell you are, but let's get things straight, when I say that's my spot, you get up and move and then apologize to me for even thinking you can sit here." Jessie looked down at the girl, her words dripped poison but Tessa looked unmoved.

"I'm sorry, but where I came from you can learn how to readjust, I mean you might as well go back to grade school if you don't know what that means. You get here early enough you can have the seat back, but I'm not going to be forced out of a spot because some girl with big curls and seem to have rule over her class or whatever thinks she could just get up and scoot me away like a puppy. You can go sit down now if you like, class is about to start." Then church bells started ringing in the distant and Jessamine stood there in disbelief, she looked around seeing everyone's eyes on her, her face was slowly turning red.

"You are going to regret every word that came from that nasty little mouth of yours, bitch." Jessamine spits out angrily before storming across the room, and of course the rest of her group moved to that side leaving Tessa alone and the room filled with whispers and gossip and Will sat beside Jessamine as she snaked her arm around him returning to her frazzled friends. He looked over at Tessa who stared at her paper but her gray eyes seemed to be somewhere else, maybe that's something for her to do to block the nasty rumors spread about her.

Tessa stared at the board while the teacher stood up. Will stared at her, the more he studied her the more she looked like a complex painting. From her light brown wavy hair that curled perfectly around her to her soft face with freckles that splashed across her nose and cheeks giving herself a child-like face. Will never seen a girl's face that held to her youth like this one, boarding school usually helps speeds up the growth of girls, but she held her youth. What really struck Will the most was her gray eyes, they were dull with boredom at the moment as she watched the teacher carry on with a lecture.

"William, you better not be staring at that whore." Jessamine snarled angrily as she started to file her nails. Will looked over at her, she was involved in herself completely and everyone that was around her had to be just involved. "I mean, seriously she probably had to sleep with half the staff to get into this place especially at late admission." Jessamine chuckled as the other three girls pulled out their phones and starting clicking away. Will rolled his eyes and stared forward towards the front of the room finally zoning out so he could stop listening to Jessamine.

All Tessa could think about was leaving the room after a very long and agonizing lesson, she loved art but the problem was the girls across the room. The Blonde tall model kept burning her eyes into Tessa's back and then turned around to laugh with her friends about something. This was the type of girls that Tessa despises, her face was pretty but her attitude was ugly. She grabbed her stuff and walked out the room in a hurry only to bump into the boy last night who was known as Will. Having her stuff spewed all over the ground causing all the girls to giggle and watch her. "I'm sorry." She mumbled trying to grab her stuff before she had to actually make eye contact.

"You know she's just jealous," Will spoke softly but only loud enough for Tessa to hear, "she's used to getting her way." Tessa looked up with confusion with her eyes only to catch his. Will's eyes looked like the dark blue sky in the middle of the ocean; they were deep but also frightening. He looked at her and smiled, his teeth were bright white and his smile was mischievous too.

"Well I guess she needed to be jerked back into the reality." Tessa said before gathering all her things and standing up, they started to walk out the door.

"William get here right now." Jessamine said angrily, her face was once again red, Will winked at her before heading to Jessamine's side before Tessa could actually realized that they were the King and Queen of the school, Tessa shook her head and headed up the stairway to her Literature class.

When Tessa walked in the classroom, barely anyone was in there but the few that were stared at her and then leaned over to whisper to their neighbor before giggling. Tessa knew it was Jessamine, after making her last period she knew that this day will be hell. Tessa sat in a random spot but felt like hidden from the class, which was her intention. She opened up her book 'Great Expectations' before being snapped back into reality by a young man taking the seat beside her. She couldn't help but stare at his, he was the most interesting and beautiful person ever to come across her path. He was tall with pale skin, his hair was the color of light silver, he looked like a china doll that shouldn't be touched or it will break. He finally turned to her, his pupils were huge which made him look like he was somewhat high but he acted normal. "You must be Theresa Gray." He smiled widely, his voice sounded like a musical note. "I'm sorry, I'm James Carstairs, but you can call me Jem, I haven't been the best welcoming committee, I was trying to talk to you at breakfast, but when I turned my back for a second and then you were gone."

"Sorry, I still had to find some of my classes still, I kind of got distracted last night when I was supposed to and time just slipped away." Tessa smiled softly before looking down at her hands shyly.

"It happens to the best of us, how has your day been?" Jem looked at her as he picked up a pencil twirling it around his delicate fingers.

How Tessa could honestly answer the question, was she to reveal she already made the Queen of Idris angry? No, that was too much information. She thought of twelve different things to say but the words that came out were, "its good." The bell made a second ring before Mr. Raphael closed the door and started in on his lesson. It wasn't only until 10 minutes later the door popped open.

"The King has arrived." Jem mumbled only to have William pop in the door; his cheeks were red from running.

"Mr. Herondale, did you get lost?" Mr. Raphael raised his brow.

"Of course not, I had to tend to some other issues for later on." He looked around the classroom only to find the seat beside Jem empty and took his seat beside him. "We shall continue the lesson now."

"You're late because?" Jem looked over.

"Little Jessie is upset." Will smirked before leaning over to look at Tessa; her eyes were focused on the lesson.

"Why?"

"Well see, the new girl over there, decided to not let the Queen get her way, the Queen was upset and needed comfort." Then suddenly the phone rings and Mr. Raphael picks up and nodded before looking around.

"Ms. Gray, you need to report to the main office building please, Mr. Carstairs and I guess Herondale, can you escort her." Mr. Raphael smiled before all eyes averted to the confused face of Tessa Gray. She grabbed her bags and made her way out quietly along with the two boys following her.

"Why am I being called to the main office?" Tessa looked at Jem trying to avoid all eye contact with Will.

"It could be anything like transfer papers, don't worry." Jem smiled before they got there.

In Mr. Starkweather's office were two men dressed in all black, along with Mr. Starkweather, whose face looked unnaturally tired. "Theresa may you have a seat." Mr. Starkweather pointed to the plush red chair. He rubbed his face a few times before sighing heavily. "Theresa, I am very sorry to even share the news, but there was a plane crash a few hours ago, there were only a few survivors, your parents were on the plane, and they found their bodies." Tessa stared passed them all, her eyes were wide and all the sudden she gets up numbly. "Please Theresa, sit down." And then it all goes black.

_Authors Note: That's crazy right?! I wanted to leave a cliffhanger and hopefully that works! I hope many of you guys subscribe to this story! Reviews and favorites help me work faster and motivate me to work faster to get this story to you. You guys are awesome and tell your friends or whatever, thank you for reading!_


	3. Just Breathe

_AU: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long, I've been away for a little, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

Tessa stares at herself in the vanity mirror, her own room, the color of royal purple, she turned around and looked around, it hasn't been touched since she left, and the pictures of her and her old friends were on one wall with various quotes. She then looked to the multiple shelves full of awards and trophies from various teams; she finally turned back to the mirror of her vanity and stared at herself. Dark circles grew under her eyes; her face seems to get thinner due to lack of hunger, and sleep. Her skin seemed like the color of porcelain because of the white dress she was wearing, her family tradition made them wear white instead of black to a funeral which felt odd for her. She started to put on her make-up so she can at least avoid all the questions like if she was okay? Why would she be? Tessa grabbed her necklace, the clicking of the clockwork angel calmed her down, and the ticking seemed like the only normal thing that would happen today.

There was a knock on her door and she turned to see Nathanial, her brother, pop his head in. People could never tell that Nathaniel and Tessa were brother and sister; they had no similarities at all. Nathaniel seemed more to fit in, he had the tan skin of the typical lacrosse player, and his eyes were a dark green and he had a huge white smile. He was around 6'2 and he always had the boyish grin. "Hey baby sis." Nathaniel smiled softly as he slipped into the room and sat on her bed. Tessa looked down as she started to fidget around her necklace; the clockwork seemed to slow down her racing mind. "Tessa, I know it's hard for you, it's hard for me too, please talk to me, say anything." Tessa looked up to see Nathaniel's eyes, they were pleading and sad, his eyes were a little red from crying but he obviously tried to hide it by looking down and fiddling with his hands.

"Nathan, I just…need more time okay, this funeral I just more than I can handle at the moment, I'm sorry." She sighed softly and stared at the wall, everything was blurred but she just zoned out before she knew it Nathaniel was gone and she was alone, once again. She grabbed her pillow and tears fell from her eyes as she felt the wetness hit her hand, she curled up on the bed and cried.

She was awakened by her Aunt Harriet, who was youthful and beautiful, she had dark blonde hair that seemed to be in a bun, and her eyes were deep green. "Tessa Dear, it is time." She smiled gently as she noticed the redness around Tessa's eyes. Tessa sighed as she lifted herself out of bed. Tessa and Harriet made their way to the staircase and headed down, the whole living room was filled with white, white roses, white sheets, and everyone was wearing white, it almost seemed like they were even going into a funeral. But they were welcoming or going into a wedding, Tessa sighed softly as the funeral began.

"Seems like Tessa hasn't been back in a whole, good riddance," Jessie plotted her herself between Jem and Will, this was the usual for her to do, she always found a way to be the center of attention. "I mean, she wouldn't even last year, I think that crash was a sign telling her to-"

"Jessamine shut the hell up." Will slammed her book angrily down. "The girl's parents died and she left for a while to heal and you think that is just a moment for you to take stabs at her like that? Goodness Gracious she took your damn seat and you've been ragging about it for days." Jessamine gave Will a look of hurt, as if she was a puppy that was kicked by her owner.

"You know what William, why don't you go skip home to her and tell her how fucking amazing she is, because obviously you think she's heaven on earth if you won't even let me talk about her." Jessie took a bite out of her apple and leaned back in her chair. "What is with you guys? Is it because she's new? She has bad hair? What?"

"Because she isn't a stuck up rich girl who thinks being a bitch is okay." Will grumbled and turned his head away from her; she glared and then scooted back before getting up and stomping away. Will stared at his book; his cheeks were flushed with anger.

"Will, are you alright?" Jem raised his brow as Will looked at him.

"Yeah, fine, just getting tired of Jessie, that's all." Will ran his hand through his hand. Then all the sudden it drops, he looked up and in the café itself, Tessa walked in quietly and quickly almost as if she wants to been invisible and it works. Will looked at her, it seemed like she has been gone for years, even it was for a few days, her skin seemed a little paler and she looked skinnier. She was wearing the usual outfit but instead she replaced her white shirt with a long sleeved gray shirt that helped point out her eyes, her hair was put up in a pony tail as it bounced as she walked, she held her books closely to her body.

"I'm going to go talk to her." Jem looked at Will, who then stared down at his book quickly. "Just to see how she has been doing, I mean I know what she is going through, maybe I can help her."

"Or maybe she just wants to be left alone Jem, I mean you never know, maybe she's a quiet griever." Will shrugged before closing his book and leaning back in his chair. But before he knew it Jem has disappeared, next thing he knew he saw Jem talking to Tessa, her eyes were confused and a little lost too but she just nodded and followed him back to the table. She set her books down and started playing with her tiny Angel Necklace which made a ticking sound.

"How are you?" Jem stares at Tessa and she looked up, her eyes were showing awareness but also tiredness.

"I've been better, but I'm just trying to stay under the radar." Tessa looked at Jem, she avoided all eye contact with Will what so ever.

"I know how you feel, not long ago my parents were killed in front of me, and it was hard to get over." Jem tapped his fingers on the table top quietly. Will know that every time he mentioned his parents death he gets nervous, almost scared. Will tried to kick Jem softly but then his leg slipped kicking Tessa.

"Did you just kick me?" Tessa looked at Will, who eyes were wide as a child who was busted stealing a cookie.

"I'm sorry, my leg slipped and…I need to go to class." Will pushed away from the table grabbing his stuff and making his way out of the building. He cursed to himself as he

walked across the quad, he threw on his sunglasses to avoid speaking to anyone and he turned to a grass covered pathway that lead to an empty looking building, it seemed in good shape but the signs of abandonment was obvious. He slipped in and closed the door behind him as he walked down the dark hallway. Each room was filled with different artifacts from previous plays or dances, it use to be an arts building but the new one was built and now this one just seemed like a storage building. He entered an empty room, in there was a black grand piano, he turn the lights on and the room filled with light as it displayed the various abandoned instruments and cases. He sat on the bench and started playing various keys to warm up, he took out his notebook before pulling out various sheets of paper with notes scribbled across them, and he looked at them and played a beautiful but broken melody before he heard someone clear their throat.

"I thought I would find you hear." A small voice said from the doorway, Will turned to see a small version of him; she was smaller with a more feminine face, her ink black curls were in a high ponytail and she was in a field hockey uniform, noticing she might of just got done with practice.

"What do you want from me now?" Will rolled his eyes and staring at his sister.

"Why'd you rush out of dining hall so quickly?" She raised her brow than sat beside him.

"Because I had a new melody and I wanted to get it down on the piano before I could forget it."

"Liar," Cecily mumbled as she turned towards the piano. "There's a new girl in my hall, her name is Theresa Gray, she's quiet but she looks like she has a lot to say, eyes speak more than your mouth you see." Cecil played little notes on the piano, the melody was high pitched but it sounded as if birds were dancing. "After your little shower incident, she rushed out of the bathroom, she was the only other person in there too." Cecily then moved down the piano as the song got a little deeper. "You saw her, I know you did, stay away from her, she's not like the other girls William." Cecily moved down to the high notes again before ending the song.

Will looked down shamefully as he looked out the window only to catch Jem and Tessa walking together to their classes. "Why should I even consider taking your advice?"

"She's too nice for you, she's belongs with someone who's heart is worn on their sleeve. Who can already make the best out of the best person, someone like your best mate, Jem." She looked at him then stood up heading towards the door. "Please listen to me, it for your own good." Then she disappeared into the dark hall leaving Will by himself.

Tessa smiled softly as she looked straight ahead, she tried to avoid the eyes staring at her and who was beside her. She looked to her side to see Jem, he was telling some story about how he first got lost here. She then looked down, maybe it was her own little dream that she would have people pity her and pretend to be her friend. Maybe that's how she would be known for the rest of her life as the girl whose parents died. She grabbed her necklace fiddling it.

"You know, everything is going to be okay." She blinked a little turning back into reality and she saw Jem staring down at her. Jem's eyes was the color of silver, something about him was so fragile looking, he was like a walking China doll, scared to touch because you're scared to break it. "You're playing with your necklace, which I guess is a little sign that your either nervous or something, and it comforts you." She smiled softly and looked ahead. "I look for comfort too, my violin." He looked ahead too as they walked into the Senior Hall, they stopped right in front of the art history class. "You can sit with us during lunch, I mean if you want to." He looked at her as Tessa sighed softly.

"I think it's a little too soon to squeeze me in, a lot of people don't even like me because of Jessamine, I just…I have to go." She dipped into the classroom before Jem could reply and she sat in her seat looking down. Before the last bell was about to ring, Will entered the room and sat beside Jessamine, who looked happy as she glanced over at Tessa and quirked her brow. The teacher went into a deep lesson on shading and focus on the drawing, Tessa once again zoned out until finally she felt a hand on her should, and she jumped a little.

"Now I know that you haven't been paying attention." She looked up to see Will smile menacingly at her, his teeth were too white face his slightly pale skin. " I mean if you have then you would of known that we would be pairing off and working on face drawings, but your eyes were somewhere else, mentally." He grabbed a chair and turned it around facing her, she blinked and looked away. "You know, they said sometimes when you zone out, your reality feels like a dream and your dreams feel like a real-"

"Are you seriously my partner?" Tessa looked around in confusion, this might have been a cruel joke that Jessamine put on her, but when she looked at Jessamine, she felt a cold chill go down her back.

"If you don't want me as your partner, I can grace some other girl with my beauty and talent." Will leaned back in the chair.

"Well aren't you just confident?" Tessa mumbled as she pulled out her sketch pad.

"I would say confident is one of the many things I am." Will smiled as he stared at his nails in boredom. Just then the bell rang and Tessa made grabbed her stuff quickly and rushed out of the room before Will could even say one thing to her.

"What the hell was that?" Jessie glowered over him, she had her arms cross and her eyes seemed as if they were going to stab through him, but to Will that seemed like nothing.

"It was me reaching out to someone?" Will raised a brow and stood up gathering his stuff.

"You think this is funny, you think this is a game, don't you? Well go ahead and play William Herondale, I want to see that little girl's face when you say this is all a game, because I know you, you get bored of me for a while so you stray from your path, find some girl to infatuate yourself with, play with her mind, get her to believe you're actually in love with her, then all the sudden you leave." Jessamine smiled slickly as Will looked at her. "And you come back to me, and the girl stands in her room wondering what she did wrong to chase you away, then she goes and bugs me, don't fuck with me Will, I will ruin this girl's life." Jessamine then turned her heel and walked out the door.

Will stood there for a moment, his shock and disgust twirled in his emotions; he never thought Jessamine was that girl who would degrade anyone, until now. He head out the door to his Literature class, he saw Tessa and Jem sitting together, they were laughing and smiling with her as they were looking through books. Jem then caught his eye and Jem waved him over, as if no worries bothered him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The moment that Will sat down beside Jem, was when Tessa looked down and backed away. But she looked over at Will only to catch his eye, what eye contact they made, was the only one they needed to know that there was something there.

_AU: If you guys want more, review more, follow more, do anything! I like your comments, it's what keeps me going! Thank you guys for reading!_


	4. Bonfire

_**Author's note: Hey guys, sorry I've been kind of gone, but this chapter things will start getting good! **_

_**Love you!**_

Tessa sat in her room staring at the pages of her book, but the words kept blurring in and out of her focus until she finally set the book on her nightstand. She sighed as she stared around her new decorated room; the lamp was covered in a teal sash which gave the lighting a blue tint to it. She heard a gentle knock on her door, then underneath the door slid a piece of paper. She stared at it again until she heard a knock once again; she opened the door only to see a small girl standing there. The girl was probably 1 or 2 years younger than she was; her black ink hair was down in curls and her make up was done.

"Don't be scared to let me in, I'm Cecily." She smiled softly as Tessa raised a brow, "Well are you going to let me in before Charlotte starts asking questions?" She smiled as Tessa moved to the side and Cecily slid past her. "I know what you're thinking, why is this strange little girl barging into my room as if she knows me, and the truth is, I don't, but I will." Cecily smiled as she plopped on Tessa's bed. "Tonight, there's a little get together, invite only, but of course no one pays attention to that, I was thinking you should come with me." Cecily smiled innocently as she played with her hair. "Okay, you will, let's see what you can wear!" She turned to open Tessa's closet, "Oh my god, you have such a selection, doesn't it suck wearing ugly uniforms though?" Cecily rampaged through her closet, throwing out shirts, pants, and leggings and a mirage of other things.

"I need to stay and study actually." Tessa finally spoke out which made Cecily stop mid-toss and turned. "I mean, it's not even allowed is it?"

"Of course it's allowed, we wouldn't do it if it wasn't." Cecily smiled as she turned and looked at Tessa who was wide eyed, and her face was a little flushed. "I know Tessa, I'm just barging in your life, but please come tonight, you'll see some of the best people fall flat on their faces with drunkenness." Cecily smiled as she looked down at the clothes covered bed and then finally picked up burgundy pants, with a cream colored crop top, and a grey leather jacket. "Perfect."

Cecily left quickly claiming she had to go get her friend Sophie as Tessa got dressed. She added grey riding boots to match her jacket. She threw on some jewelry and looked at her hair. She grabbed the mousse and put as much as possible to let the curls activate and hold through whatever might happen, she put on some eye liner and mascara, which made her eyes look grayer and put on some dark red lip stick. When she heard the other knock she opened the door she heard a gasp of amazement from the two girls standing in front of her.

Cecily was now in a pair of black leggings with blue tom's and a blue shirt to match, it was long sleeved. Behind her was a face Tessa saw in some of her classes but usually she was hidden. "This is Sophie, Sophie this is Tessa, now we need to get in this room and lock the doors and wait for Charlotte to check on us." Cecily smiled and laid down a bunch of blankets and pillows on the ground to look like a sleep over was going down. Tessa looked at Sophie, on her face was a faint but noticeable scare, other than that she was beautiful with her silky brunette hair flowing around her face. She was wearing skinny jeans with some flats and a cute PINK sweatshirt.

"Why do you look so familiar?" Tessa stared at Cecily was looked at her with her dark blue eyes, Cecily smirked and stood up.

"You might know my brother William?" She rolled her eyes and made little circles in the ground with her finger.

"Oh my g-" all the sudden there was a knock on the door and Tessa got up to answer. "Hello?"

"Oh, Hello Mrs. Gray, I'm just checking up on you before I go to bed, also Ms. Herondale said that she and Sophie were sleeping in your room tonight?" Charlotte smiled a little smiled. "May I see them?" Tessa opened the door wider to show Cecily and Sophie under the blankets waving innocently. "Alright, well, good, I mean, goodnight ladies, behave." Charlotte nodded and made her way to the next room. Tessa closed the door and locked it.

"The window," Cecily smiled as she made her way across the room, she opened the window and looked down and smiled. "You're not as far as I expected, it's going to be easy." Then suddenly she jumped as Tessa rushed to the window, she looked down only to see Cecily on her legs waving her down. Sophie climbed up and made her way down too, she landed smoothly and looked up waving Tessa. "Come on Tessa." Tessa blinked.

"Um, well I'm sorry I'm not half cat! I'll just take the front door." Tessa blinked and then grabbed her key and open her door and then closed it quickly, she slipped off her boots. The hall was dark and empty; there were faint sounds of giggles, but nothing else. She locked her door and put the key necklace around her neck and padded through the hallways quietly and survived as she walked out the front door and opening it closed quietly. She threw her boots back on and Cecily and Sophie were waiting for her. "What?"

"Way to take the safe way out." Cecily grabbed her hand and lead her across the quad to the woods; the fog seemed to hit the ground thickly giving Tessa an eerie feeling. "I mean, it wasn't because we're half cat either, we were trained that way." Cecily smiled as Tessa looked at her oddly before entering the woods, they heard music in and laughing.

The music grew louder until they came to a small clearing in the middle of the woods, the bonfire was blazing, and many kids from school were there. When Cecily showed up, she and Sophie got on each side of Tessa. As they walked by many people dropped their conversations to stare at what may or may not be Theresa Gray, the new quiet book worm girl. They got to a side of the bonfire where the bench was clear and they sat down staring.

"Tessa, is that you?" Jem's voice sound confused and unsure.

Tessa turned and smiled shyly at Jem and stood up. "Yes, I feel, weird, like I don't belong here." She mumbled quietly as Jem smiled softly.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you here, I'll introduce you." Jem smiled as he wrapped his arm around her waist and showed her around to different people. Across the clearing was Will sitting beside Jessamine who seemed to be interested in someone else. Will ignored whatever she was saying and stood up heading over to his little sister.

"A word," He growled as she stood up in all excitement. He grabbed her arm and dragged her to a quiet corner. "What the hell is Tessa doing here?" Will crossed his arms.

"Well, looks like she's here for the same reason everyone else is, to socialize." Cecily answered in a sweet innocent tone.

"I know she didn't just up and come to your room asking to go to this party." Will raised his brow questioningly and the crossed his arms.

Cecily looked over at Tessa and Jem in a group of people, laughing and talking, Tessa was actually having a good time. "Look at her Will, she's having fun, she's meeting people, she looks hot, I mean come on." Cecily smiled as she saw Tessa and waved at Cecily and Will and then returned back to her conversation.

"What do you want from me?" Will sighed and looked at the fire.

"I want nothing but your love and hope." Cecily patted his cheek and skipped away to a group of people talking.

Will looked around and then made his was to the drink station and started pumping the beer, after he was done he sat on the bench by himself. Then he felt two people sat beside him and looked over to see Jem and Tessa.

"What are you doing by yourself?" Jem asked as Will shrugged and looked at his cup with some sort of frown and threw it to the side.

"Well I mean, Jessamine was just there, and I was just there, and so I decided to drink, to make my life a little better, the truth is, it didn't, I'm still getting drunk in a forest full of teenagers, who just want to all make out with each other." Will threw the cup into the fired and looked over at Tessa, who had a kid sitting beside her talking to her. Jem chuckled a little and looked at the fire also and then leaned back stretching.

"Why don't you talk to her? She thinks you hate her." Jem looked over at Will, who rolled his eyes.

"Girls think about everything, they think their hair is frizzy, they think they're fat when they're perfectly fine, you can't change her thoughts what so ever." Will stood up and Jem shook his head.

"I think you're afraid of her, because she's like the female version of you, probably even better." Jem stood up along with Will.

"That has to be false, because the female version of me will be married to me, it would be like looking and talking to myself, the conversations would never die." Will headed over to the drink area.

Jem looked over to check on Tessa and she decided to slip away and find her way back to Cecily who was obviously flirting and Sophie looked bored.

"Hey, I'm going to go back to the room, I'm getting really tired." Tessa smiled softly and waved.

"Do you want someone to walk back with you? I don't like you going to those woods alone." Cecily gave Tessa a look of concern.

"No, I can manage my way back, thank you; I'll leave my window open." Tessa smiled softly before heading off.

Tessa made her way to the woods trying quietly. Tessa kept walking until the sound of music and people talking were distant and faint. She stayed on the path but after a while she heard nothing. She sighed softly and stopped to take a breath and put her hair in a ponytail. She never wanted to go out, but she hated disappointing people, especially a pusher like Cecily, she was such a random child but wise beyond belief. The party felt weird, she felt Jessamine's eyes on her the whole time, Jem was being the usual nice guy introducing her and once again Will ignored her as if she didn't exist. Maybe it was for the best too? She was trying way too hard for someone who seems not to care at all, he didn't care about his girlfriend, hell he didn't even care for his classes. She continued walking and hoping that she wasn't lost, her sense of direction was off but she felt like she was going the right way. She kept walking until she heard a snap, she stopped and turned around assuming someone was following her, she saw nothing then continued to walk but a little faster. She then heard leaves crumble behind her and she stopped again. "Hello?" She listened for a reply before she shrugged and then started walking again, she felt like something was following her so she started walking faster, but it seemed like the clear view of the campus was far from her.

She then saw something form beside her and she jumped, she didn't waste any time figuring out what it was either, she started sprinting and took a turn as if she could confused it, only to trip on a root of a tree. She screamed a little before she saw the form in front of her in all black, she looked up and the eyes were pure red. She kicked at its shin but only to hurt herself, it made a sound of metal echoing. She then just stared at it before jerking away ripping her jacket which was enough to have her get up and start running again and she had no time to waste because she felt it behind her, all the sudden she was yanked by the hair and she fell backwards hitting the ground hard, making her lose her breath. Tessa felt her heart beating faster, she closed her eyes then all the sudden a flash of light happened which stunned the black form and scared it off. Her necklace started ticking louder and louder as she made her way up and started running straight forward until she finally found a clearing, it was the quads of the campus she rolled onto the soft grass and started crying. So many questions filled her mind, but she looked down, her clock angel returned to its normal faint ticking sound, she looked around the dark campus, there was something out there, and this campus had something to do with it.

The next day Tessa woke up, she looked down noticing that Cecily and Sophie made their way back perfectly harmless. Their room smelled of bonfire smoke and woods, she then looked around and noticed she was in different clothes, but her sudden soreness reminded her that something happened last night. She made her way to the shower, got dressed in some leggings and a lighter sweater and put her hair in a ponytail; she slid on some shoes and left a note for the two still sleeping girls. She made her way down to the lobby where it was now filled with chatty girls talking about last night. She looked down and walked out the door and started walking towards the dining hall before she was greeted by two familiar voices.

"Tessa, wait up!" She turned to see Jem and Will walking together, both of them were wearing sunglasses and regular clothes. She waited for them and then she walked with them after being aware of them heading the same direction. "I didn't get to say goodbye last night, were you feeling alright?" Jem asked his voice sounded concerned.

"Oh, yeah, I was just fine; my head was just starting to hurt a little so I made my way back." She started fidgeting with her necklace nervously.

"Is that a scratch on your face?" Will suddenly raised his glasses up staring.

"Oh, I tripped while walking back last night." Tessa replied quickly, but she knew Will caught on to it and he put his sunglasses back on.

"You got to be careful out there, the wood is no place to be alone, I wish you would have told me so I would escort you." Jem frowned a little.

"What do you mean be alone?" Tessa raised her brow and looked towards the woods then she looked down.

"Just…weird stuff goes down there, especially at night, I've heard some stories that really give me the chills." Jem shrugged and looked at the woods, his mouth turned into a straight line.

"It's time to eat, I'm hungry." Will interrupted before starting his way towards the doors of the lunch hall.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Jem looked at her. Tessa nodded in assurance and they went in to dining hall. They grabbed their food and sat at a table, all the sudden they were joined by Jessamine.

"When is the charity event going to be over?" She looked at Jem.

"Charity case?" Jem blinked

"You know, the new girl." She smiled twisting the stem off her apple. "She's starting to linger."

"The new girl is right here." Tessa rolled her eyes and leaned in her chair.

"Back off Jessamine, don't you have other people to harass." Will poked at his cereal.

"Excuse me, people are starting to talk, I want to keep your name on high levels, and you can't do this around people with low morals and standards." She bit into the apple and stared at Tessa.

"I'm sorry, I forgot you were talking." Tessa looked at Jessamine, who shot her an evil glare.

"Excuse me? Who are you to talk to me this way? Do you know who I am?"

"I don't know how many times you given this speech, I don't care either, I know who you are, you're an insecure selfish little girl who thinks bringing other people down is a hobby, and one day all this shit is going to come to end, today is the day, so goodbye." Tessa snapped at Jessamine before standing up and storming out of the Hall.

Jessamine looked around the now quiet hall as people stared at her. She scrunched her face up angrily. "Who are you looking at? Go eat your carbs!" She snapped and stormed out of the building too.

"Welp, had my drama of the day." Jem sighed and looked at his watch. "I have my appointment in a little bit, I'm going to head over now, and I'll catch you later?" He looked at Will and as Will was focused on his food and made a little wave. Jem smiled and then he left also leaving Will looked up from the food and then stood up to throw it away and follow Tessa.

Tessa couldn't believe what just happened to her, she just lost it. She never has been able to actually lose her temper that way, she let's those words slid off. Her mind was just too full of other things to take any of Jessamine's comments today. She walked across the quad and stopped in front of the woods staring into it before looking around, then she noticed a building. The building was old and gothic, but it looked dark and empty as if it was abandoned. She made he way to it as she gotten closer she noticed that it was an old Arts hall, she opened the door and looked inside, there were footsteps in the dirty hall way which was probably couples sneaking in to make out. She made her way to the end of the hall way, she opened the door to see a beautiful black grand piano sitting there, the light from the roof shined on it, it was still glossy and spotless as if it was recently cleaned. She saw little notes of paper around it with musical notes. She sat on the bench and slowly slid her fingers again the keys. She sighed softly noticing how smooth and delicate these key are.

"I knew you would find this building." She jumped and turned to see Will at the doorway. "Something about it is, quiet, peaceful, it's like a get away place." He smiled softly. Tessa looked down but didn't reply. "My favorite part is the piano, I take care of it, it's my therapy, I play it all the time." Tessa looked down noticing the faded black keys on the piano and she ran her fingers across them.

"How long has this been closed down?" Tessa asked.

"About 8 years actually, it was replaced by a new music hall, bigger, better, grander." Will mocked with a loud booming voice.

Tessa looked down and then started to put her hands on her necklace.

"Tessa, I know something is up with you." Will looked at her, he then all the sudden dragged a chair by the bench and faced her.

"I'm fine, I swear." Tessa nodded and smiled brightly.

"No, you're not, something happened in the woods last night, it freaked you out." Will looked at her, his dark blue eyes were pleading with answers.

"I…I…I was walking, then all the sudden I felt like someone was chasing me, but then it had red eyes, It couldn't just be anyone." She took a hard swallow before looking down. "I ran but it grabbed my hair and yanked me back, I felt so…useless, I couldn't move, I could have died." Tessa started shaking a little before Will reached out and grabbed her hand.

"It was probably a demon." Will said stearnly.

"Demons? Like monsters?" Tessa looked up as if he was joking. "I tell you this out of complete fear and you throw it in my face to pick on me?!" Tessa ripped her hands away from his and grabbed her necklace.

"No, I'm dead serious, Tessa there's a lot of things about this school you don't know about, we started young, but you just joined this year. I think we need to talk to the dean about this." Will stood up and started pacing.

"What?" Tessa stared at him in complete confusion.

"You need to know about the other world we live in now, you have to." Will stared at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a Shadow Hunter." Will looked up at her.


	5. Lost

_**A.U.**_

_**I'm sorry for the wait, I have been really busy lately, I hope you love this chapter, there isn't kissing or anything, but there's some news coming up!**_

Will stared at Tessa, he could tell she had many questions and he would be able to answer them but there wouldn't be enough time in the world. Then she busted into laughter, she was bending over and wiping her eyes as if he was telling a funny.

"You're hilarious, trying to scare me." She grabbed her bags and headed towards the door.

"Tessa, you think this is a joke?" He backed up and blocked the door.

"Yes, because you are joking, there's no such thing as a Shadow Hunter….what do you guys even do chase and hop on the shadows in the daylight?" She chuckled again imagining the image running through her mind.

"Tessa, this is not a joke, I'm serious, and whatever was in that forest was out to get you." Will grabbed her arms and stared into her eyes. Tessa's mouth turned into a straight line, her eyes focused on Will's, his eyes were gorgeous, they were dark blue as the ocean before a midnight storm.

"I want proof."

Will looked at her then quickly looked down, he was hoping that she wasn't one of the girls, she wasn't going to be apart of the world he was in, where they would sneak around at night but in the daytime they would act like they were normal students. He was tired of seeing one of the missions going wrong resulting in death, then all the sudden his eyes widen.

"Will….WILL?!" Tessa looked at him with worry.

"Damn it." He muttered before letting go and sprinting out of the room. Tessa stood there then grabbed their stuff and ran after him. She heard people mumbling as she ran past them, Will was faster than she thought even with regular clothes on. They finally made it into the main institute building; the secretary looked frazzled as she ran to the main door of Starkweather's office.

"It was whatever attacked her in the woods that killed her parents!" Will exclaimed as he leaned over the desk. "Someone wants her, and will kill everyone around her!" He exclaimed

"William, I need you to breathe, she is safe in this perimeter." Starkweather said in a matter of fact way.

"They know she's here." Will turned towards the window looking out. Right then Tessa stormed in, she was out of breath, her face was red from running but her eyes were a dark grey as if a storm was about to happen.

"Who knows? Who the hell knows Will?!" She stomped to his shoving him on the window. "Who the hell followed me here?! Who killed my parents?! Who the hell are you?" She looked at Starkweather. "Someone say something to me, stop leaving me out, I need to know something!" She cried out, Will grabbed her hands as she tried to shove him again. "Someone talk to me!" Tears quickly filled her eyes as Will sat her down.

Will stared at her, she looked like a painting, the lighting on her face hit the lighting in her eyes perfectly, the tears streaming down her face which was so strong the first time he laid eyes on her and now it was a all coming down, the walls she built around her slowly tumbling like Jericho and some reason his heart felt like it was being grabbed, he looked down and stared at Starkweather.

"Theresa." Starkweather grabbed his cane and slowly made his way to her, she looked up slowly, her eyes were red from crying, for a moment she looked like a little girl, Starkweather thought of his daughter, he pursed his lips before taking a deep. "I need you to calm down; things are going to be okay." His sighed as she looked down.

"I need to know something, just anything." Tears filled her eyes again and then she stood up. "I'm going home." She said firmly as she turned towards the door.

"You can't." Starkweather claimed as she went back to his desk and leaned against it.

"Why can't I?" She raised her brow.

"William, you are now excused, thank you." Starkweather nodded. Will opened his mouth up to protest before Starkweather gave him a look that made him think again. Will looked at Tessa one more time before leaving the office shutting the door behind him. The room filled with a eerie silence before Starkweather let out a husky cough. "You're family is under investigation, the Council needs to look at the family records." He finally let out. "It just seems like you appeared out of no where, and then to be separated from your brother is even more difficult to understand." He leaned off his desk and made his way around to sit down.

"My parents felt as if it was a better investment for us to separate because it's easier for him to attend a Boy's school to stay…focus." Tessa stared at him. "He had trouble in at the last school, he was a lot of trouble, he always tried to stick up for me or fight people." Tessa tapped her delicate fingers on the sofa trying to distract her mind.

"Theresa, we accepted you here because you have a sort of blood that only this institute accepts, but your brother doesn't." Starkweather pulled out a file. "But your blood seems to be mixed with something else, either way the blood of the angel is very dominant." He opens the manila folder up looking through it.

"The Blood of the Angel…" Tessa looked at him questioningly. "What is that?" She asked before looking outside.

"This means part of you is a Shadow Hunter, someone who hunts demons, the law enforcers of the underworld." Starkweather explained briefly.

"There's that Shadow Hunter again, and Demons and underworld…This is silly, these only belong in books." Tessa chuckled as if she just heard a silly tale.

"No my dear, it's not, we Shadow Hunters are skilled trainers, we travel the world, stay in different cities and we also investigate anything under suspicion that could harm one of our own." Starkweather sighed deeply before leaning his head back.

"But my parent's were regular people, they shopped in groceries, we lived with neighbors, we even had a dog named Sam, we were a normal family." Tessa explained not remembering anything odd at all.

"They probably tried their best to keep a normal life but sometimes it catches up with you."

"Nothing caught up with them, my parents were normal people." Tessa said sternly.

"Theresa, I am not trying to upset you." Starkweather sighed.

"I need to lay down, today has been exhausting and finding all this new stuff out." Tessa shook her head covering her face, she was afraid of how she looked now especially her eyes red from crying. Starkweather nodded softly as Tessa stood up and headed towards the door. "Mr. Starkweather, if all this is true, I need to know everything about this world that decided to just come and attack me, My parents, what I am, what you are, what this school is." She opened the door and then walked out.

When she left she saw Will sitting in the chair outside, he stood up quickly and looked at her and she looked down and turned the other way walking out slowly. Will sighed and plopped down back in the chair running his fingers through his hair.

"William, get in here." Starkweather called out as Will stood up and walked in the office, he leaned against the door. "I want you to look through the woods, find any trace of what happened last night, I want to find out what was in the woods." Starkweather commanded, "Tonight." Will nodded and walked out the door.

Will was full of worry; Tessa was hurting, confused and now lost. He knew he had to live this type of lifestyle even though he didn't have to because his parents didn't, but he wanted to. He walked into his residence hall; he quickly made his way to his room and sat on the bed running his fingers through his hair. He sighed in frustration as Jem walked in the room listening to his classical music; he seemed a little brighter than this morning.

"Hello William." Jem smiled brightly as he sat down across him, his pupils were big and wide hiding his unusual silver hair.

"Hey Jem," Will leaned back on his bed and sighed again.

"Telling by your sighing and body language today was interesting, I heard some rumors that you were sprinting across campus like a madman being followed by the 'weird new girl', any idea what that is about?" Jem leaned back into the chair and raised his brow.

"Tessa was attacked last night, by something in the woods," Will let out. "It might be linked to her parents death, she has the blood of the angel in her, but also she has something else which is odd because usually anything other than that would have died off or she would be been dead." He begins spilling out. "I can't talk to her, I'm busy, I have to focus, I have better things to worry about then someone else's life." Will looked away from Jem.

"William, do you want me to talk to her?" Jem raised his brow and started fidgeting with his fingers a little, he always needed to stay in motion whenever he was like this.

"I think since you and Charlotte are secretly in love, you can get into her room easier." Will said before looking at Jem. "Tonight please."

Tessa walked back to room after various whispers behind her, she could already hear the rumors spreading around her about running after Will. She sighed and finally made it to her room when she closed the door she hid behind it and closed her eyes.

"Well it looks like you're having a bad day." She heard a familiar voice and she opened her eyes. Nathaniel was sitting on her bed looking through magazines, he was wearing his a school shirt and tan pants.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Oh, well hello to you too sister." Nathaniel stood up and looked at her.

"I'm sorry, I'm just…I'm overwhelmed and it's not a good time, Hi Nathaniel, what are you doing here?" She ran her fingers through her hair, she stared at him intensely.

"Well I hope you know that there is a ball next weekend, we have to take a girl companion, I have one but you see my friend Gabriel doesn't, I told him I would set him up with you." Nathaniel smiled brightly.

"Nathaniel, right now is not a good time to go and play around at silly dances." Tessa went towards her vanity mirror and took off her necklace, she felt bare but she just needed air.

"Theresa, I'm trying to set you up to one of the wealthiest and respectable family's here and I mean he's not even-"

"Our parents were killed by something else." Tessa interrupted.

"They were in a crash; we all know that, nothing else." Nathaniel said sternly, his eyes turned cold.

"No, something is after us, I don't know what, but something attacked me in the woods like…like a robot or something." Tessa confessed looking down; she felt another lump in her throat.

"Tessa, you're imagining stuff." Nathaniel laughed softly as if she was kidding.

"I am not."

"Mom and Dad's deaths were freak accidents, people die all the time from stuff like this, families have to move on, we have to move on, no need to dwell on it, it will hurt less." Nathaniel stared at her. "Tessa you know I'm trying to do what's best for you." He smiled and hugged her.

Tessa took a deep breath before she heard a knock on the door. She pulled away and opened the door, Jem was standing there, and his cheeks were a little pink from walking.

"Tessa we need to talk." Jem smiled sweetly. Tessa opened up the door a little wider to expose Nathan in the room with her already.

"I'm actually leaving; I have to call the cab and everything." Nathan grabbed his stuff and headed towards the door. "I need a answer for Gabriel, yes or no?" He raised his brow.

"Tell him yes." Tessa sighed.

"Okay, he's a Lightwood, a very good name to have." Nathaniel smiled before walking down the hall.

"I guess…" Jem pointed to him before she closed the door.

"My brother," Tessa said before sitting down on her bed.

"Oh, I guess he goes to the same Academy as the Lightwood Brother's." Jem made a sort of snarl when he said their names.

"What's wrong with them?" She asked.

"They're bratty little rich kids who is too good to actually be with the rest of us sha-"He froze and stared. "I heard that your day was. Interesting," He smiled softly, it felt genuine as if he barely smiled but when he does the world seems right.

"I just, I just don't need all this, it's already hard adjusting to a new school, my parents being gone and now all this talk of being something else, having a blood of the angel, it's just…exhausting." Tessa looked down as she fidgeted with her fingers since she had taken off her necklace.

"I know, it is hard, you're almost an adult and when we were young we discovered this, we lived our whole lives training for this, this is our life." Jem stared at her. "We were trained to fight demons; fight Downworlder's who failed to follow the laws." He moved over to her and sat beside her.

"Do you die?" Tessa asked softly.

"Some of us, yes, other's live and we fight, we accept our deaths because we our fighting for the sake of a safer world." Jem pursed his lips. "While others die slowly and painfully, I'd rather die a quickly death fighting for the safety of the ones I love than to die slowly."

This grabbed Tessa's attention, she looked over at him. He was looking down and his eyes were focused on the ground, but she felt the heat radiating off of him. "You're getting a fever." Tessa said softly.

This made Jem chuckle softly. "Yeah, I tend to get those very often." He took out a napkin and coughed into it.

"Tell me." Tessa asked curiously.

Jem looked at her and knew exactly what she was asking for. He had a choice either to let her sit there and pity him til the day he dies and let her not know and continue on to what Will wanted him to do. "I don't think my issues are as important as what happened today." Jem said.

I think they're just important, I don't want to talk to a complete stranger about my secret life, especially one with huge pupils and show a lot of drug use." She raised a brow sharply. Jem looked at her with shock; she was as sweet as a hummingbird but would strike as fast as a rattlesnake.

"I'm sick." He smiled.

"How sick?" She tilted her head.

"Really sick," Jem looked straight forward, not wanting to see her face.

"So you wanted to do this shadow hunter thing, you knew any day or battle you could die, because you are going to die anyway." Tessa stared at him. Jem stared at him and laughed.

"You are quite the puzzle solver, I think only one person knows that and that is Will." He laughed again. "He's just as reckless, he doesn't care if he lives or die even though he perfectly healthy." Jem shook his head.

"Will is a code; I don't know how to break it." Tessa said.

"He won't let you; he has to figure out his own code to let anyone else in." Jem shrugged before he stood up. "I have to go, but I just wanted to reassure you that everything is going to be okay, you are safe, and you are in the hands of professionals here." Jem smiled before opening the door. "Have a good evening Miss Gray." He closed.

Tessa Stared at the door and sighed before plopping herself on her bed, she stared at the ceiling which seemed still in her world around her was spinning. She felt sick, tired, confused, hungry, maybe every emotion in the book.

Will took his steele and walked around the forest, the glowing light was dim but just enough to give him sight. He was finally was looking for footprints, anything just to prove that Tessa's story was real. He looked around before he heard a little crumble of paper under him. He looked down, it was a photo, he stared a little more and it seemed like a faded photo of Tessa, she was younger in this. On the back was a little note "Bring her back for the Magister." He blinked.

The days seemed to pass by slowly but nothing happened. Tessa was once again looked at oddly, she was the outcast especially after that episode with chasing after Will through the quads. She looked out the window of her dorm. She stared at the photo of her brother and then remember she needed to get a dress for the ball, she will have to wait for tomorrow because it was late, then all the sudden the campus was silent, the fog thickened up. Something didn't feel right, but in the back of her head a voice was telling her to check it out, she grabbed on to her necklace hanging from her neck.

Will sat in his room before he looked at Jem, who was staring out the window. "Something isn't right." Jem mumbled. Will turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Something isn't right, the fog, something is here, something not natural." Jem turned around and looked at Will.

"Do you think?" Will held up the faded picture of Tessa, the words still on the back.

"I don't know, but we need to check." Jem and Will grabbed their weapons before and opened the window; Will turned on a witch light which was use to light the way through the thick fog.

They ran to the girl's hall and up the stairs in a hurry, the girls were waking up, when they go to Tessa's hall they found her door opened, the room was empty.

"She's gone." Jem muttered before they ran out.

Tessa's eyes opened slowly, they felt as if 5 pound weights were holding them down, she kept drifting in and out of consciousness only to hear what little sentences.

"Are you sure this is the shifter?"…

…."We need to prepare her for the ball…The Magister wants her by then."…

…."We have to mold her, it will take hours before she's actually presentable." Then all the sudden she was asleep again.

A.N.

_**Well I hope this helped your curious little minds, I don't want to start any romances yet, because she's still going to be a damsel in distress. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I love cliffhangers! I will hopefully update more soon, a lot of things are becoming hectic because I'm moving into college, but I'm getting a new laptop. I hope you guys check out IMMORTAL INSTRUMENTS CITY OF BONES COMING OUT! I'm hoping for the best for this movie! **_


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